Where the Riverboat Sails Tonight

Fluid thoughts on experiences and things observed from Memphis to New Orleans: hundreds of brightly colored dragonflies, test messages on the cell phone (another 1st for us), a Betty Boop tattoo on the forearm of the hotel clerk in Grenada, Mississippi, falling into bed exhausted, turning the TV documentary about steroids off right before a man’s biceps explode (we didn’t want that visual), accidentally spilling orange juice on Dan at breakfast, stocking the cooler with fresh strawberries and other groceries, trains, homes on the Bayou only accessible by boat, French Press Coffee Shop with the internet password latte, high winds later identified as Tropical Storm Eduardo (maybe we should start watching the weather channel), a labyrinth of of mausoleums that trigger Melody’s memory of searching for Evita’s grave in Argentina with Heather, bike messengers, iron railings in the French Quarter, and the gold trim on the doorman’s uniform (nice!).


Gladys was programmed with the only landmark we had in New Orleans--The Boondock Saint-- an Irish bar in the French Quarter named after the independent film. Dan’s brother, Doug, had found it on a previous trip and recommended it as off the beaten path. He told us that 1 of the 3 televisions displayed a continuous loop of the movie at all times. Once we found our target, the goal was good lodging in the near vicinity. That brings us to Hotel Monteleone. From the outside, it looked like an historic luxury hotel that would be found in DC or any major city. Flags flanked the front, there was a doorman, it reached at least 15 floors high, and the lobby was illuminated with the warm yellow glow cast by dimmed chandeliers. Pleasantly surprised, we agreed to the affordable rate and took the elevator to the 11th floor. Our “deluxe king” had a grand view of the Mississippi River and the steamboats that call her home.
With one night in New Orleans, we wanted Jambalaya for dinner and something with crawfish. We settled into a cozy little restaurant and met our server, Miranda. Interestingly enough, her family has worked carnivals throughout the Midwest for the last 5 generations, and her parents still work the circuit in Illinois. She has grad school and law school on the immediate horizon, but wants to squeeze in a trip to backpack across Europe before she’s 30.

After dinner, we each took a stool at The Boondock Saint, where we met Barbara. She is a native to New Orleans. This is only 1 of 2 jobs for her and she’s never actually seen the movie with the volume on. She doesn’t drive now since she sold her car due to increased liability insurance rates. However, she doesn’t like getting rides to work from her sister because she “drives too slow to avoid the potholes around here, and you know there are a lot of potholes.” Her dad is a retired mounted police officer and she smiled as she told stories about her own horse. Pete, the owner of The Boondock Saint, had a firm handshake. He is the one who brought Tropical Storm Eduardo to our attention. After discussing our planned route across the country, he had Barbara change the channel to the news so we could view the weather predictions over the next couple of days. He is planning a trip to the Florida panhandle with his daughter at the end of this week, but he is very uneasy about her swimming in the Gulf since 8 people have reportedly died in heavy rip currents within the last week alone. We took Bourbon Street back to the hotel, ducking in and out of gift shops, where we tried on many masks and hunted the next sticker for The Egg.